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The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys: An American Saga
"The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys" is the sweeping history of two immigrant families, their rise to become potent political dynasties, and the marriage that brought the two together to found the most powerful family in America. Drawing on unprecedented access to the family and its private papers, Pulitzer Prize-winning and bestselling historian Doris Kearns Goodwin takes readers from John Francis "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald's baptism in 1863 through his reign as mayor of Boston, to the inauguration of his grandson as president ninety-eight years later. Each character emerges unforgettably: the young, shrewdly political Rose Fitzgerald; her powerful, manipulative husband, Joseph P. Kennedy; and the "Golden Trio" of Kennedy children -- Joe Jr., Kathleen, and Jack -- whose promise was eclipsed by the family's legacy of tragedy. Through the prism of two self-made families, Goodwin reveals the ambitions and the hopes that form the fabric of the American nation.
992 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
68 people are currently reading
7223 people want to read
About the author
Doris Kearns Goodwin
42 books5,241 followersDoris Helen Kearns Goodwin is an American biographer, historian, former sports journalist, and political commentator. She has written biographies of numerous U.S. presidents. Goodwin's book No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1995. Goodwin produced the American television miniseries Washington. She was also executive producer of "Abraham Lincoln", a 2022 docudrama on the History Channel. This latter series was based on Goodwin's Leadership in Turbulent Times.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 158 reviews
July 29, 2023
Built on a grand scale, with ambition, passion and will attaining in them a terrible yet wondrous force, both the Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys seemed to live their lives with an uncommon intensity which drove them to seek out the heights of earthly greatness. Striking against the existing order of things in pursuance of their ambitions and driving their passions, they achieved more than they ever dreamed, lending a magic to their family story that no tale of ordinary life could possibly rival. But the very nature of their search was for success of such towering proportions that, as history records, a terrible price was paid.
(Page 808)
The Kennedys are America’s iconic royal family. This is an extensive, detailed history of the family from the early immigrants from Ireland to the inauguration of John F. Kennedy as President of the United States. In this book you will read about the maternal grandfather of JFK, John Francis “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, a longtime Democratic politician and twice elected mayor of Boston. You will read much about Joseph Patrick Kennedy, a successful American business man, onetime Ambassador to Great Britain and the patriarch of the Kennedy family. You will also read about Rose Kennedy from her life as a child, the eldest daughter of “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, as the wife of Joseph Kennedy, and as the mother of the Kennedy family.
This is not a biography of John Kennedy. It is an examination of his upbringing and character. There is almost a psychological flavor to this book.
An important part of this family’s history is the discrimination Irish Catholics faced in Boston. Unlike New York City where the Irish were just one of many immigrant groups to arrive in the Nineteenth Century, or Chicago where the Irish were able to establish themselves in a new city, the Irish arrived in Boston, a city over 200 years old, with a well established Brahmin class, the original Wasp society.
Joseph Kennedy encountered this discrimination at Harvard where despite being a successful student and active socially he was denied entrance to the exclusive clubs at Harvard. This ignited a drive to become a wealthy, successful businessman and to see one of his sons elected as the first Irish Catholic President of the United States.
This drive was passed on to his children who were urged to always do their best. The author implies this may have resulted in the death of the oldest son Joseph Kennedy, Jr. After his brother Jack was hailed a hero for his exploits in the South Pacific after his PT boat had been rammed by a Japanese Destroyer, Joe volunteered for a dangerous mission which claimed his life.
Joseph Kennedy had always invested his dreams of political success in his oldest son and after his death those dreams were transferred to the second oldest son Jack. In letters to his friends he describes that it was demanded by his father that he pursue a political career.
As a family history of the Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys and their rise from poor immigrant Irish to the Mayorship of Boston and the Ambassador to Great Britain, this is a fascinating story of the successful migration of the poor of Europe to the United States. However, it is the fact that Jack Kennedy became the first Irish Catholic to be elected as President of the United States that makes this book interesting. His ascent to the presidency elevated the family to its mythical position in history.
His youth was spent with many lingering illnesses that separated him from his family. His parents were frequently absent, and he grew up knowing his father’s preference for his older brother. He developed a rebellious independence that allowed him to adapt his approach to politics and modify his positions according to his goals. This was reflected in his lack of a political ideology.
The Kennedy family, his parents and his siblings, played a large part in his success, but it was his own triumph. He had the ability to arouse the imagination of his fellow citizens with his youth, intelligence and his handsome family. His vision and vigor inspired a generation with a version of a better America.
After publication of this book the author, Doris Kearns Goodwin, was accused of plagiarizing parts from other works. This accusation was the result of an article in a far-right news magazine, The Weekly Standard . The author did admit to the plagiarism and blamed it on some accidents in her research. I certainly do not condone plagiarism, but it did not affect my enjoyment of this book.
November 22, 2021
I had low expectations going into this book. Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote this book with the full cooperation of the Kennedy and Fitzgerald families. So I expected this to be a book that painted the family in most positive light possible. And while it did definitely cover the family in a positive manner it also brought up some of the more seedy aspects of the family.
I've read a lot of books about the Kennedys but those tend to focus on the most important and high profile members Joe, John, Robert and Edward. What I enjoyed most about this book was that it covered the first Fitzgerald's and Kennedy's to arrive in America. I loved reading about those often forgotten members of the family. Right now I'm really interested in reading stories about the immigrant experience and it's just very interesting to compare the humble beginnings of this family with the iconic family that we now know.
Truthfully I would have preferred if the book had only covered the families immigrant origins. But I did enjoy this book and despite its huge page count I flew through this book and I stayed engaged throughout.
Recommended for History buffs.
I've read a lot of books about the Kennedys but those tend to focus on the most important and high profile members Joe, John, Robert and Edward. What I enjoyed most about this book was that it covered the first Fitzgerald's and Kennedy's to arrive in America. I loved reading about those often forgotten members of the family. Right now I'm really interested in reading stories about the immigrant experience and it's just very interesting to compare the humble beginnings of this family with the iconic family that we now know.
Truthfully I would have preferred if the book had only covered the families immigrant origins. But I did enjoy this book and despite its huge page count I flew through this book and I stayed engaged throughout.
Recommended for History buffs.
March 15, 2014
At 800 pages plus, not counting the more than 100 pages of notes and bibliography, this book is not easy to hold, but it is hard to put down - it’s a great read. Goodwin takes a wealth of material and infuses it with life and color, creating unforgettable portraits of people we thought we knew from history, from the press, from gossip.
The book covers three generations of the families, starting with Rose Kennedy’s father, John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald and ending with the inauguration of John F. Kennedy as President. It is at its base an immigrant story of the progress from discrimination, to acceptance, to ascendancy. The characters could have been designed for a made for tv movie, but Goodwin, with low key rather than melodramatic narrative, makes them real three-dimensional human beings, favored and flawed, moving through and helping to shape American history for over a century.
Honey Fitz was the consummate Irish pol, larger than life, full of stories, generous to a fault, massively corrupt. Rose was his favorite daughter, sent off to a convent school because it would improve her father‘s political standing, standing in for his remote, unhappy wife as she got older. The Ladies of the Sacred Heart gave Rose an excellent education and a lifelong habit of unquestioning obedience to church laws. At one point when her son John was running for office, she contacted the Cardinal to see how to remove Les Miserables and Balzac (both on the Index of Forbidden Books)from her library. She consoled herself for her husband’s long absences and infidelities with her church and her children, expensive trips, and expensive clothes.
Joe Kennedy was a supremely gifted and utterly amoral businessman, the youngest bank president in the country, a self-made millionaire any times over, first chairman of the SEC, and a disastrous ambassador to England in the difficult years just before WWII. His only business priority other than profit was the welfare of his family. He was a demanding, domineering yet devoted father. While he was apart from his children for much of the time, he wrote each of them often and fondly, commenting on their studies, hobbies and friends. As they grew older, he kept close track of them - having his people check out their friends and lovers for suitability. He directed and managed all of them in a way that acted as though there was no daylight between what was good for him and what was best for them. Through his whole life, he was keenly aware of and deeply resentful of the slights he experienced as an Irish Catholic, determined that his children would not have that same experience.
Joe and Rose had a strange marriage by today’s lights - he was a compulsive womanizer while she believed that sex was only for procreation - when that was not possible, there was no sex, whether married or not. Whether she knew of the scope of his infidelities or not, she never admitted - she was always secure in her role as wife, knowing that divorce was unthinkable, a mortal sin.
Their nine children take up less of the book. Of the nine, Joe Jr., Jack and Kathleen occupy most of that part of the book. The wartime tragedies and heroics and the post War politics are richly described.
Goodwin’s skills as a researcher and her gifts as a writer make this book a truly rich reading experience and an illuminating look at the personalities, the politics, and the history of a significant segment of our past.
The book covers three generations of the families, starting with Rose Kennedy’s father, John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald and ending with the inauguration of John F. Kennedy as President. It is at its base an immigrant story of the progress from discrimination, to acceptance, to ascendancy. The characters could have been designed for a made for tv movie, but Goodwin, with low key rather than melodramatic narrative, makes them real three-dimensional human beings, favored and flawed, moving through and helping to shape American history for over a century.
Honey Fitz was the consummate Irish pol, larger than life, full of stories, generous to a fault, massively corrupt. Rose was his favorite daughter, sent off to a convent school because it would improve her father‘s political standing, standing in for his remote, unhappy wife as she got older. The Ladies of the Sacred Heart gave Rose an excellent education and a lifelong habit of unquestioning obedience to church laws. At one point when her son John was running for office, she contacted the Cardinal to see how to remove Les Miserables and Balzac (both on the Index of Forbidden Books)from her library. She consoled herself for her husband’s long absences and infidelities with her church and her children, expensive trips, and expensive clothes.
Joe Kennedy was a supremely gifted and utterly amoral businessman, the youngest bank president in the country, a self-made millionaire any times over, first chairman of the SEC, and a disastrous ambassador to England in the difficult years just before WWII. His only business priority other than profit was the welfare of his family. He was a demanding, domineering yet devoted father. While he was apart from his children for much of the time, he wrote each of them often and fondly, commenting on their studies, hobbies and friends. As they grew older, he kept close track of them - having his people check out their friends and lovers for suitability. He directed and managed all of them in a way that acted as though there was no daylight between what was good for him and what was best for them. Through his whole life, he was keenly aware of and deeply resentful of the slights he experienced as an Irish Catholic, determined that his children would not have that same experience.
Joe and Rose had a strange marriage by today’s lights - he was a compulsive womanizer while she believed that sex was only for procreation - when that was not possible, there was no sex, whether married or not. Whether she knew of the scope of his infidelities or not, she never admitted - she was always secure in her role as wife, knowing that divorce was unthinkable, a mortal sin.
Their nine children take up less of the book. Of the nine, Joe Jr., Jack and Kathleen occupy most of that part of the book. The wartime tragedies and heroics and the post War politics are richly described.
Goodwin’s skills as a researcher and her gifts as a writer make this book a truly rich reading experience and an illuminating look at the personalities, the politics, and the history of a significant segment of our past.
August 29, 2017
https://bestpresidentialbios.com/2017...
Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys: An American Saga” was published in 1987 and remains one of the most widely-read books on JFK and the Kennedy family. Goodwin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and presidential historian who has written about Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, LBJ, Teddy Roosevelt and William Taft.
This 943-page tome is not a traditional biography of John F. Kennedy and covers no part of his presidency. Instead, it is an engrossing, articulate and cleverly-written narrative which chronicles much of the history of the Kennedy family, including JFK’s own life up to his presidential inauguration. Unfortunately, allegations of plagiarism have plagued this book – and Goodwin’s reputation – following a 2002 article in The Weekly Standard which exposed the author’s transgression.
The book’s forty-five chapters are divided into three major sections, the first of which covers the Fitzgerald family, most notably JFK’s captivating grandfather “Honey Fitz” and his mother Rose. The second section focuses on the Kennedy family – and on Joseph P. Kennedy (JFK’s father) in particular. The third section follows JFK’s older brother and his sister Kathleen to the end of their lives and documents Kennedy’s life up to (but not beyond) his inauguration.
“The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys” is quite lengthy but wonderfully absorbing. While it occasionally feels long-winded, Goodwin’s narrative creates a vibrant texture of the times which would be imperiled by a more concise format. The book is consistently strong, but arguably at its best in its first section – the life of Honey Fitz (an enormous personality, to say the least) is spectacularly fascinating and Goodwin tells his story artfully. In fact, it is hard to imagine a dedicated biography of the man being any better than this.
Other excellent moments include the colorful portrait Goodwin paints of immigrant life in mid-19th century Boston, her description of Joseph P. Kennedy’s work at a shipbuilding company during World War II and her review of his first brokerage job (which served as his initiation into the world of insider trading). In addition, Goodwin’s portrayals of many of JFK’s core family members are robust and insightful.
Ironically, the book is comparatively weak revealing JFK himself. While he is frequently mentioned throughout its second half, only the last hundred or so pages are dedicated to his life. And much of the time what is covered of his life feels like a coherent summary rather than a detailed blow-by-blow. Fortunately, the best chapter on JFK (“Shooting For a Star”) provides a distillation of Kennedy’s essence in twenty-two remarkably prescient pages.
Other than its relative lack of focus on JFK – which limits the degree to which the reader learns of his health issues, his notorious womanizing and his family’s efforts to hide his imperfections – Goodwin can be faulted for being too friendly to many of her subjects. While she frequently chastises Kennedy (and both of his parents) for their most glaring flaws, one frequently senses that Goodwin softened the sharpest edges to avoid offending members of the Kennedy family who witnessed the book’s publication…and who provided her with special access to more than a hundred boxes of previously unseen materials.
Overall, Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys” offers a compelling (and often riveting) look at the lives of JFK and several members of his family. Given its tendency to summarize, rather than detail, important events in Kennedy’s life and its failure to analyze his character more thoroughly, this book is imperfect as an introduction to his pre-presidency. But as a second or third book on Kennedy this is an excellent choice, and anyone fascinated by the life of John F. Kennedy will find this book rewarding.
Overall rating: 4½ stars
Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys: An American Saga” was published in 1987 and remains one of the most widely-read books on JFK and the Kennedy family. Goodwin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and presidential historian who has written about Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, LBJ, Teddy Roosevelt and William Taft.
This 943-page tome is not a traditional biography of John F. Kennedy and covers no part of his presidency. Instead, it is an engrossing, articulate and cleverly-written narrative which chronicles much of the history of the Kennedy family, including JFK’s own life up to his presidential inauguration. Unfortunately, allegations of plagiarism have plagued this book – and Goodwin’s reputation – following a 2002 article in The Weekly Standard which exposed the author’s transgression.
The book’s forty-five chapters are divided into three major sections, the first of which covers the Fitzgerald family, most notably JFK’s captivating grandfather “Honey Fitz” and his mother Rose. The second section focuses on the Kennedy family – and on Joseph P. Kennedy (JFK’s father) in particular. The third section follows JFK’s older brother and his sister Kathleen to the end of their lives and documents Kennedy’s life up to (but not beyond) his inauguration.
“The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys” is quite lengthy but wonderfully absorbing. While it occasionally feels long-winded, Goodwin’s narrative creates a vibrant texture of the times which would be imperiled by a more concise format. The book is consistently strong, but arguably at its best in its first section – the life of Honey Fitz (an enormous personality, to say the least) is spectacularly fascinating and Goodwin tells his story artfully. In fact, it is hard to imagine a dedicated biography of the man being any better than this.
Other excellent moments include the colorful portrait Goodwin paints of immigrant life in mid-19th century Boston, her description of Joseph P. Kennedy’s work at a shipbuilding company during World War II and her review of his first brokerage job (which served as his initiation into the world of insider trading). In addition, Goodwin’s portrayals of many of JFK’s core family members are robust and insightful.
Ironically, the book is comparatively weak revealing JFK himself. While he is frequently mentioned throughout its second half, only the last hundred or so pages are dedicated to his life. And much of the time what is covered of his life feels like a coherent summary rather than a detailed blow-by-blow. Fortunately, the best chapter on JFK (“Shooting For a Star”) provides a distillation of Kennedy’s essence in twenty-two remarkably prescient pages.
Other than its relative lack of focus on JFK – which limits the degree to which the reader learns of his health issues, his notorious womanizing and his family’s efforts to hide his imperfections – Goodwin can be faulted for being too friendly to many of her subjects. While she frequently chastises Kennedy (and both of his parents) for their most glaring flaws, one frequently senses that Goodwin softened the sharpest edges to avoid offending members of the Kennedy family who witnessed the book’s publication…and who provided her with special access to more than a hundred boxes of previously unseen materials.
Overall, Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys” offers a compelling (and often riveting) look at the lives of JFK and several members of his family. Given its tendency to summarize, rather than detail, important events in Kennedy’s life and its failure to analyze his character more thoroughly, this book is imperfect as an introduction to his pre-presidency. But as a second or third book on Kennedy this is an excellent choice, and anyone fascinated by the life of John F. Kennedy will find this book rewarding.
Overall rating: 4½ stars
January 23, 2023
I have read quite a few books on the Kennedys but, in my opinion, nothing compares to Ms. Goodwin's, "The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys." It is a project that took her nine years to complete. The writing, insights, analysis, and the totality of the book is truly amazing which shouldn't surprise me since Ms. Goodwin is one of the great historians of our time and her biographies on Lincoln, LBJ and Theodore Roosevelt are among my favorite biographies.
The biography begins with the Fitzgerald family arriving from Ireland in the 1850's and settling in the North End of Boston where conditions were so bad that thirty five out of every one hundred children died before the age of five and the prejudice against Catholics and Irish immigrants was despicable, as was the prejudice against the Italians, Blacks, and Jews.
The Fitzgerald's moved up in Boston society as a result of John Fitzgerald, Rose's father, who became an employee of one of the big bosses in the district and who oversaw the young Fitzgerald's gradual climb up the ladder of politics and eventually becoming the mayor of the city.
Rose would eventually marry Joseph Kennedy whose ambition was insatiable and whose business successes and wealth would make his family's name synonymous with those of J.P. Morgan and the Rockefeller's. The details that Ms. Goodwin's many characters, especially of the Kennedy family and their children, is done with such clarity and personal recollections that by the end of the biography you feel like you have a personal relationship with all of them.
In the truest sense this is a biography of the immigrants who arrived on the shores of America and were treated, in many ways, in such a manner that one could only describe it as inhumane, and by the time Jack Kennedy becomes president these same immigrant groups would become the foundation that built the greatest industrial nation on earth.
Ms. Goodwin toward the end of the book quotes Melville who said, "We are the heirs of all time, and with all nations we divide our inheritance. On this Western Hemisphere all tribes and people are forming into one federated whole; and there is a future which shall see the estranged children of Adam restored as the old hearthstone in (an American) Eden ... The seed is sown and the harvest must come."
The biography begins with the Fitzgerald family arriving from Ireland in the 1850's and settling in the North End of Boston where conditions were so bad that thirty five out of every one hundred children died before the age of five and the prejudice against Catholics and Irish immigrants was despicable, as was the prejudice against the Italians, Blacks, and Jews.
The Fitzgerald's moved up in Boston society as a result of John Fitzgerald, Rose's father, who became an employee of one of the big bosses in the district and who oversaw the young Fitzgerald's gradual climb up the ladder of politics and eventually becoming the mayor of the city.
Rose would eventually marry Joseph Kennedy whose ambition was insatiable and whose business successes and wealth would make his family's name synonymous with those of J.P. Morgan and the Rockefeller's. The details that Ms. Goodwin's many characters, especially of the Kennedy family and their children, is done with such clarity and personal recollections that by the end of the biography you feel like you have a personal relationship with all of them.
In the truest sense this is a biography of the immigrants who arrived on the shores of America and were treated, in many ways, in such a manner that one could only describe it as inhumane, and by the time Jack Kennedy becomes president these same immigrant groups would become the foundation that built the greatest industrial nation on earth.
Ms. Goodwin toward the end of the book quotes Melville who said, "We are the heirs of all time, and with all nations we divide our inheritance. On this Western Hemisphere all tribes and people are forming into one federated whole; and there is a future which shall see the estranged children of Adam restored as the old hearthstone in (an American) Eden ... The seed is sown and the harvest must come."
August 22, 2011
I was 12 when John F. Kennedy gained the Whitehouse. I knew nothing of politics, but I fell in love with Jackie Kennedy's persona. His assassination happened when I was 15, and like most other people, it left an imprint on my life. I have heard many documentaries on JFK, some pro and some con. I wanted to hear the truth from this book. Doris always tells both sides.
I love Doris Kearns Goodwin's books. I love the way she writes history. She not only tells what is happening in the Kennedy and Fitzgerald's lives, she fits it into the history of the nation and even the world. She is so thorough in her telling that you feel like you have taken a college course in history, however, she teaches through stories. I went to a book signing on Lincoln-Team of Rivals, and she said that she gets irritated with history teachers who make history dull by date memorization, etc. She feels that if you teach the stories that comprise the history, the dates and important facts will be automatically infused in student brains. So her books are detailed stories that keep me wanting more. I also think she tells the truth whatever it may be. She praised Joe Kennedy for his his few good qualities but continued on to help us understand his flaws and perhaps reasons for them, but she did not sugar coat anything.
I loved learning the history of Boston, the Irish immigrants, the politics of this whole era.
I love Doris Kearns Goodwin's books. I love the way she writes history. She not only tells what is happening in the Kennedy and Fitzgerald's lives, she fits it into the history of the nation and even the world. She is so thorough in her telling that you feel like you have taken a college course in history, however, she teaches through stories. I went to a book signing on Lincoln-Team of Rivals, and she said that she gets irritated with history teachers who make history dull by date memorization, etc. She feels that if you teach the stories that comprise the history, the dates and important facts will be automatically infused in student brains. So her books are detailed stories that keep me wanting more. I also think she tells the truth whatever it may be. She praised Joe Kennedy for his his few good qualities but continued on to help us understand his flaws and perhaps reasons for them, but she did not sugar coat anything.
I loved learning the history of Boston, the Irish immigrants, the politics of this whole era.
July 5, 2016
Another Kearns Goodwin book I thought I'd be reading the rest of my life, but I was completely enthralled whenever I picked it up. The author treats her subjects with thoughtfulness and compassion, even when they do questionable things, something I very much appreciate. The history of 19th century Boston is fascinating, and when I was watching the Mariners play the Red Sox at Fenway Park, and they mentioned it being built on John Fitzgerald's watch, it was like all things becoming one, and a river running through them.
I was only sorry this history wasn't LONGER! The assassinations receive a footnote-style paragraph, and because the book was published in 1987, everything that's happened since then is nowhere to be found. Could the Kennedys celebrating JFK's inauguration ever have pictured themselves onstage at Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger's gubernatorial campaign, backing him because he was Eunice's daughter Maria's fella?
I was only sorry this history wasn't LONGER! The assassinations receive a footnote-style paragraph, and because the book was published in 1987, everything that's happened since then is nowhere to be found. Could the Kennedys celebrating JFK's inauguration ever have pictured themselves onstage at Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger's gubernatorial campaign, backing him because he was Eunice's daughter Maria's fella?
September 26, 2021
The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys is a wonderful group biography of the leading figures in these interconnected families over three generations. It starts off covering John Fitzgerald. Then becomes a dual biography of John's daughter, Rose, and her husband, Joseph Kennedy. From there, it expands again to focus on Rose and Joe's children with particular attention on the "golden trio" of Joe Jr., Kick, and, of course, JFK. The fascinating lives of these six individuals coupled with Goodwin's masterly prose--which rivals that of most top novelists--makes this sizeable tome a true page turner.
October 31, 2007
The book goes way back several generations and you realize the dynasty of the Kennedys. JFK didn’t just decide he wanted to be president one day, it was bred into him.
October 14, 2009
This book has been on the family room bookshelf for years. I admit it was voyeuristic self-indulgence that finally made me take it down and read it late this summer.
The book is very long. In three separate parts, it could have been published as three separate volumes. The first section – the rise of Honey Fitz – is the best. I found it to be informative and entertaining and I like Doris Kearn Goodwin’s conversational style of prose. The descriptions of old Boston and the political system of party bosses and cronyism were particularly good.
The second section deals with Joe Kennedy’s rise to fame and fortune. Again, Goodwin covers interesting subject matter with some great historical anecdotes. However, I felt the book started to lose its steam in this section. Certain passages were repetitive and the author engaged in speculation about the family members that somehow seemed out of place. When sentences began with “one can only imagine how…”, I felt the book was deviating from serious historical journalism. I understand that Goodwin is trying to make history more interesting to the lay reader with this type of speculation but I sometimes found it to be distracting.
The final section on the golden trio of young Joe, Jack and Kathleen was the weakest part of the book. Maybe my reaction to this final section is because 1) I had already been through almost five hundred pages of Kennedy family history and wanted to move on to the pile of unread night-table books or 2) there has been so much written on the third generation already. And while the first two sections aim to be definitive, the third seems almost superficial in its treatment of subject.
I have enjoyed other works by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Her volume on the Roosevelts and the WWII home front (“No Ordinary Time’) was outstanding. ‘The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys’ was not at the same level. I would still recommend it to anyone interested in the history of the Kennedy family prior to the third generation. However, it can certainly be read in the installment plan.
The book is very long. In three separate parts, it could have been published as three separate volumes. The first section – the rise of Honey Fitz – is the best. I found it to be informative and entertaining and I like Doris Kearn Goodwin’s conversational style of prose. The descriptions of old Boston and the political system of party bosses and cronyism were particularly good.
The second section deals with Joe Kennedy’s rise to fame and fortune. Again, Goodwin covers interesting subject matter with some great historical anecdotes. However, I felt the book started to lose its steam in this section. Certain passages were repetitive and the author engaged in speculation about the family members that somehow seemed out of place. When sentences began with “one can only imagine how…”, I felt the book was deviating from serious historical journalism. I understand that Goodwin is trying to make history more interesting to the lay reader with this type of speculation but I sometimes found it to be distracting.
The final section on the golden trio of young Joe, Jack and Kathleen was the weakest part of the book. Maybe my reaction to this final section is because 1) I had already been through almost five hundred pages of Kennedy family history and wanted to move on to the pile of unread night-table books or 2) there has been so much written on the third generation already. And while the first two sections aim to be definitive, the third seems almost superficial in its treatment of subject.
I have enjoyed other works by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Her volume on the Roosevelts and the WWII home front (“No Ordinary Time’) was outstanding. ‘The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys’ was not at the same level. I would still recommend it to anyone interested in the history of the Kennedy family prior to the third generation. However, it can certainly be read in the installment plan.
December 20, 2010
I'm pretty sure that the Pulitzer she got for this was a reflection of how brave and hardworking she had to be to get backstory on the Kennedys/Fitzgeralds at the time when it was written. There's no shock, now, in thinking of Jack Kennedy as connected to the vote-fixers in Boston and Chicago, for instance. Learning more about the family's ethos and history is helpful to understanding their influence and role, but there was a lot of "Mrs. Kennedy must have felt . . ." and "We can't help but wonder if he thought..." I think DKG has a powerful understanding of the human psyche, but it was more guess-work than I prefer.
October 20, 2015
I love this book I am actively reading it. It is obviously about the Kennedy's and Fitzgeralds, and I did not think it would interest me at all but I might actually like Doris Kearns Goodwin more that David McCullough..
May 14, 2025
i really enjoyed getting to know more about two such foundational families in US politics. a very detailed account of the two families leading up the john f's inauguration. the author made them out to be good people with good intentions and an inspiring need to be successful. this need was often paired with necessary compromises often leading to questionable actions by many members of the family especially joseph p. kennedy. i thought the book a well-rounded and honest account of both families. but what do i know...?
August 6, 2012
It's been many years since I read this book - over a decade, I think - and either time has been kind to this monumental biography, or my perspective has changed with regard to this book and the families that are immortalized within its pages.
Through exhaustive research, Goodwin narrates the tale of two families - the Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys - from their respective beginnings in America to the inauguration of JFK - and through it all, she manages to retain a highly effective storytelling tone to this narration that is key to the best biographies and other works of non-fiction. While people may think they know about the Kennedys, Goodwin truly exposes all of that family's history, in a sympathetic tone, it's true, but not overtly so or in the very least sycophantic. Perhaps the most surprising thing for the reader to learn is that JFK, while a fascinating figure in his own right (as the many books about him and his presidency can attest to), is not the most fascinating member of this family. Some readers might find the patriarch, Joseph P. Kennedy, to be that person, while others might find the tragic tales of Joseph Jr or Kathleen to be that person.
The only "flaw", if one can call it that, is that Goodwin spends the bulk of her collective biography on the earlier years of the family's history - many pages are devoted to John Fitzgerald, his daughter Rose, Joseph P. Kennedy, and the "golden trio" of Joseph Jr., JFK, and Kathleen - while the younger children are little more than an afterthought. Still, I recognize that there are limitations to any book, and given that Goodwin makes the decision to end the book with JFK's inauguration, it's very possible the book would not have worked as well if Goodwin had given "equal time" to the younger siblings, whose trajectories in life would never take them as far as the Presidency.
This is a brilliant biography, and also a monumental work of history. Highly recommended.
Through exhaustive research, Goodwin narrates the tale of two families - the Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys - from their respective beginnings in America to the inauguration of JFK - and through it all, she manages to retain a highly effective storytelling tone to this narration that is key to the best biographies and other works of non-fiction. While people may think they know about the Kennedys, Goodwin truly exposes all of that family's history, in a sympathetic tone, it's true, but not overtly so or in the very least sycophantic. Perhaps the most surprising thing for the reader to learn is that JFK, while a fascinating figure in his own right (as the many books about him and his presidency can attest to), is not the most fascinating member of this family. Some readers might find the patriarch, Joseph P. Kennedy, to be that person, while others might find the tragic tales of Joseph Jr or Kathleen to be that person.
The only "flaw", if one can call it that, is that Goodwin spends the bulk of her collective biography on the earlier years of the family's history - many pages are devoted to John Fitzgerald, his daughter Rose, Joseph P. Kennedy, and the "golden trio" of Joseph Jr., JFK, and Kathleen - while the younger children are little more than an afterthought. Still, I recognize that there are limitations to any book, and given that Goodwin makes the decision to end the book with JFK's inauguration, it's very possible the book would not have worked as well if Goodwin had given "equal time" to the younger siblings, whose trajectories in life would never take them as far as the Presidency.
This is a brilliant biography, and also a monumental work of history. Highly recommended.
February 26, 2013
Doris Kearns Goodwin is a wonder historian, bringing the experiences of her subjects to life. This book, written in 1987, describes the immigration experiences of the two Irish families who, in a short period of time, gave us an iconic President and a powerful political family. The story itself is inspiring--exceptional immigrants to use their wits to succeed in America. I wonder if it were written now if the author would have been so easy on the protagonists...Fitzerald and Joseph Kennedy Sr. She doesn't hide their flaws, nor their rise to power in the corrupt Boston of the early twentieth century, but I feel as if they would not have been seen through such rose-colored glasses if the book were written now.
Rose Kennedy's religion sustained her through many tragedies and her husband's transgressions, but her natural exuberance and intelligence seem to have been sacrificed.
I look forward to reading the new book about Joseph Kennedy and see if twenty years has changed the tenor of the writing of history.
This book is well worth the reading. It is a look at the politics of the early century and explains in some ways how we got where we are.
Rose Kennedy's religion sustained her through many tragedies and her husband's transgressions, but her natural exuberance and intelligence seem to have been sacrificed.
I look forward to reading the new book about Joseph Kennedy and see if twenty years has changed the tenor of the writing of history.
This book is well worth the reading. It is a look at the politics of the early century and explains in some ways how we got where we are.
May 4, 2016
Doris Kearns Goodwin is one of my favorite authors so her style was a huge reason to like this book. I enjoyed the background knowledge of this legendary American family. The Fitzgerald information was fascinating as were the exploits of Joseph Kennedy.
A long but enjoyable read recommended for Kennedy or History buffs.
A long but enjoyable read recommended for Kennedy or History buffs.
May 17, 2012
Such a great read. Too bad Doris plagiarized some of my favorite parts :(
June 11, 2016
They are part of my background and everything this author has done is top notch
July 23, 2015
This is the longest time I have taken to read a book. Ever.
March 18, 2022
I’ve read almost a dozen books about the Kennedy family, and I definitely have a few favorites. When I picked up this particular book, I didn’t know it would soon join that list of favorites. It’s very different than the other Kennedy biographies I’ve read. While it does cover major historical events and the family events that all of the other books describe in detail, the emotion intertwined into the pages of this book is something I’ve never experienced in a biography. It’s subtle, but it really moved me. It truly is a saga. It’s not just the tragic deaths in the family that got to me, but stories involving the virtues and vices of each member impacted me as well. This book truly gives a well rounded view at generations of a family that has left its mark on the US, but it portrays them in very human and fleshed-out light that is a huge accomplishment in biography-style writing. Doris Kearns Goodwin doesn’t just give us facts, she looks at the familial patterns almost like a therapist and gives us an analysis full of emotion and deep scrutiny. She sympathizes with the Kennedys, but also judges them. The book is long, but I sailed through and couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend!!
September 19, 2021
The Fitzgeralds and Kennedys by Doris Kearns Goodwin
This is a solid biography with emphasis on Joe Sr, Rose and Jack as the title might suggest.
While Joe Sr. is a narcissist with all of the infidelity, the extreme pressure he placed on his family and even his unwillingness to stop the Nazis - he was also a successful businessman and the patriarch of a remarkable set of politically motivated sons.
There is a haunting photograph from 1939 of a young Joe, Jack and sister Kick headed to Westminster to hear Britain declare war on Germany. Within ten years all three of them, Joe's three most prized children, Joe Jr. and Kick would be killed in separate airplane crashes and Jack would barely survive his PT boat being rammed by a Japanese war vessel in the South Pacific.
There are no major revelations in this book if you've read up on the Kennedy's previously. However Kearns Goodwin is a pre-eminent biographer and she has an impeccable sense of the appropriate amount of detail and pacing.
3.5 to 4.5 stars depending on your prior exposure to this history.
This is a solid biography with emphasis on Joe Sr, Rose and Jack as the title might suggest.
While Joe Sr. is a narcissist with all of the infidelity, the extreme pressure he placed on his family and even his unwillingness to stop the Nazis - he was also a successful businessman and the patriarch of a remarkable set of politically motivated sons.
There is a haunting photograph from 1939 of a young Joe, Jack and sister Kick headed to Westminster to hear Britain declare war on Germany. Within ten years all three of them, Joe's three most prized children, Joe Jr. and Kick would be killed in separate airplane crashes and Jack would barely survive his PT boat being rammed by a Japanese war vessel in the South Pacific.
There are no major revelations in this book if you've read up on the Kennedy's previously. However Kearns Goodwin is a pre-eminent biographer and she has an impeccable sense of the appropriate amount of detail and pacing.
3.5 to 4.5 stars depending on your prior exposure to this history.
January 3, 2023
This is a book for the serious history buff who doesn’t mind a dense 800+ page book that requires trips to the gym just so you can hold it. It took me over 6 weeks to read because the text is extremely dense. I appreciate that Kerns Goodnwin starts with the first generations of Fitzgeralds and Kennedys and took us through the inauguration of JFK. I was interested in learning about prior generations of the families and their roots in Boston, things that aren’t as well covered in the typical Kennedy media. That said, some parts were extremely detailed and long and windy (ex- pages and pages about coal prices in Boston at the turn of the century) and I found those a big of a slog to get through. All together you are getting way more than just a story of a families when reading this book, it really is a lesson in history as well. I’m glad I read it but won’t be ever picking this one up for a reread.
December 9, 2018
Decided to go back in time to the earlier Doris Kearns Goodwin's books. This is a balanced view of the Kennedy family and the Fitzgerald family. I now have a much better understanding of Joseph Kennedy Sr and his role shaping the family history. And there is an in-depth look at the relationship of the Golden Trio: Joe Jr, Kathleen and John, remarkable. A 1000 page book, but easy and fast to read.
June 27, 2021
A wonderfully detailed and beautifully characterised story that follows the generations of the Kennedy and Fitzgerald families since they first arrived in America up till the election of John F Kennedy as President of the USA.
March 18, 2024
Doris Kearns Goodwin has written a classic - eminently readable and well-researched, if a bit easy on the Kennedys. Joe Kennedy especially, as well as Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, are portrayed clearly, emerging as brilliant figures of their own, not just famous parents. Goodwin also has a wonderful understanding of the world around them. Roosevelt in particular comes across as a fully formed character (no wonder, as she has written about him as well).
Some flaws: authors cited have accused Goodwin of directly copying from their books (for which she has offered an apology, saying she didn't intend to). In addition, she claims that Elliot Roosevelt was present in a nearby plane when Joe Kennedy was killed, which has been proved incorrect.
Still, this book is a pageturner, even if it should be taken with a grain of salt.
Some flaws: authors cited have accused Goodwin of directly copying from their books (for which she has offered an apology, saying she didn't intend to). In addition, she claims that Elliot Roosevelt was present in a nearby plane when Joe Kennedy was killed, which has been proved incorrect.
Still, this book is a pageturner, even if it should be taken with a grain of salt.
June 13, 2025
Excellent. 5 stars except for the author's tendency to interject her own psychological interpretations of the people and events she is covering and to subtly deride their faith. Worth the 900+ page commitment. 😅
February 11, 2023
Irish immigrants escaping the potato famine remained in Boston in lieu of moving further inland to resume farming because they had no money to travel nor buy/rent property. Swelling to 1/3 of Boston's total population, the Irish slums grew & when closing in on the Boston Brahmins, those wealthy Puritan stock moved to Beacon Hill or left the city, building large estates in the countryside. The ambitious Johnny Fitzgerald hawked newspapers, finding the most prosperous street corner to station himself. He felt responsible for supporting his family & was both bright & ambitious, learning the city so that he could plan his own future.
Johnny's ambition takes him all the way to the mayor's office. Sadly, his administration is fraught with corruption & favors, no different from his predecessors. A commission investigates his handling of contracts for stone & other materials, finding that Boston paid double to the company selected by the mayor's office. His friend, Mitchell took the hit for that....ending up in prison & died an early death soon after his release. "Honey Fitz" lost his re-election bid, & took his family to Europe to escape the ugliness of the stain on his reputation. But, soon after his return, he ran again. Such a clever man, but where is his integrity? His oldest daughter is Rose, who adores her father & like any good Catholic girl, she is obedient, even when he sends her to a convent when she was planning on attending Wellsley. Then, to another exclusive convent in Europe with her younger sister. No time to make friends, play, or enjoy one's youth for those girls.....only silence, loneliness, toil & prayer. But, in retrospect, Rose makes this experience a key feature in her social standing later in life.
Rose met Joe Kennedy as a teen one summer at Old Orchard in Maine, where all the Irish vacationed. Over the years, her friendship & fondness blossomed into love and they intended to marry. Her Dad was not in favor for he and P.J. Kennedy did not inhabit the same circle. Kennedy ran a construction company then became a banker while Fitz was totally engrossed with political life. Joe took over as the youngest bank president at a small Boston bank after finishing Harvard. He doubled the bank's deposits and loans within a short amount of time, demonstrating his work ethic and shrewd assessment of customers paid off. Once Joe was a successful banker, Fitz couldn't stand in the way of Rose & Joe getting married at their Catholic church with a small reception after. They honeymooned in VA at a new seaside hotel/resort. Ten months later, Joe Jr. was born. Little more than a year later, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born. Rose's dad was a happy grandfather who enjoyed his grandchildren more than his own children but there was no bitterness.
When WW1 began, Joe's friends who were equally successful in professional jobs all rushed to enlist to train as officers for the the new cadre of draftees. Joe felt that war was a tragic waste of human life and property. Not long before his draft # came up, he took a new job with Bethlehem Steel, helping build a new shipyard in MASS meant to built destroyers. His boss petitioned the draft board telling them how essential Joe's role was for the war effort...but the draft board said he was still classified to be drafted. One of Bethlehem's executives made a call to a contact in D.C. to end the possibility of Joe Kennedy being drafted. But, he was doing work that boosted the country's war preparations to soothe his guilt while his pals had enlisted.
Joe took care of the commissary and when the flu epidemic struck, he quickly created a hospital at the shipyard to care for their 27,000 employees. He was skilled at the job, but when the war ended, he chose to move on. Using his contacts, he landed a job in a brokerage house where he was able to use insider information to build an admirable stock portfolio for himself, as well as their clients. He certainly had the Midas touch for trading stocks. Rose was at home having another baby during the flu epidemic: their first girl, Rosemary.
As Joe was finding success as a stock trader, Rose was reconnecting with the Catholic Church to fill the void she found while living in a Protestant neighborhood, at home with too many young children to travel the world or get out & socialize as she did as the darling daughter of Honey Fitz. Does it add to her infamy that she attained acceptance while at a Catholic retreat? She chose to make more time for herself by insisting Joe find them a larger house & they hire more help: cooks, nannies to raise the kids, and other servants. Sounds like "privilege" to me.
When Joe moves on the the movie industry after making a lot of money trading stocks. Rose is busy with 7 children, but still takes time to travel despite the children longing to go with her. Joe Jr. is the oldest and was often the surrogate parent, missing out of some of the fun of childhood. He & Jack were very competitive. Joe would toss a football with Teddy or Bobby, showing them how it's done but with Jack, his throws were meant to hurt. Was Joe threatened by Jack's confidence and intelligence? They tell us Jack was repeatedly "sick" but didn't tell us what exactly made him sick.
As the oldest girl born during the flu epidemic, Rosemary was sweet & lovely but once she started school, her teachers informed Rose that she was retarded. Rose suspected something was wrong. The parents sought all sorts of medical help but found none. They rebuffed the advice to institutionalize her until she "acted out" in young adulthood, & had her lobotomized for being promiscuous. [St. Coletta's is right down the road from where I live and it is a wonderful facility with the most kind & caring staff despite the nuns being mostly gone.]
Kathleen was the second oldest girl and was especially close to her older brothers. Always cheerful & energetic, described as "a ray of sunshine." She was one of the 9 children who never acted privileged & realized how fortunate she was to be born into the Kennedy family. Eunice was only a year younger but was more shy & withdrawn, preferring the company of the younger children. She was closest to Rosemary & most often understood what Rosemary wanted/needed. Rose felt all
their children had great empathy & compassion because of growing up with Rosemary at home.
When Joe Sr. was tired of the stock market, he moved on to dabble in movies. He gained footing in Hollywood when he was asked to help Gloria Swanson with her financial woes, to start a long "relationship" with her. Rose denied knowing about the affair. She seemed unwilling to admit Joe could be lured into another woman's bed or perhaps thought it was beneath her to admit adultery was going on in their marriage. Too much time was spent on explaining Joe's machinations in the silent movie business. Eventually, Joe's investment in making a movie with Gloria was a failure so he went home to his wife & family. But, he kept her from bankruptcy. Their joint venture eventually made some money but never the blockbuster movie they both hoped for.
When Joe went home, he began divesting himself of his stocks. Unlike most men of Wall St. he believed the market was booming based on margins [& wishful thinking] instead of actual economic performance. When the crash came in 1929, he was still a very wealthy man, mostly unaffected by Wall Street's collapse.
At this juncture, he decides that he wants to get involved in politics. He spends some time at home [they now own THREE mansions] where he reconnects with Rose & their NINE children. He meets FDR, becomes a loyal supporter and joins his campaign doing fundraising. Their cross-country trip by train to meet people & hear their stories first hand was described by Joe as one of the best experiences of his life. He seems to expect a reward from FDR for his successful fundraising. Eventually, FDR asks him to head the SEC. Apparently, an insider from Wall St., Joe is able to help chart the course of the SEC in creating regulations for the financial sector.
Joe Jr is the favorite son...schooled at Choate & then Harvard. Then, he is sent to Europe to study but after visiting Germany where Hitler now rules, he buys into that fascist thinking that "order" is good, marching is admirable & Jews are shady businessmen who need to be expelled. When Jack is sent to Choate, he does not emulate his older brother's ability to follow the rules nor get good grades. We are told Jack is sickly...supposedly having hepatitis. But, where would he have gotten hepatitis? He is able to stick with Choate, only with Dad's intercession after threatened with expulsion when he creates a secret club whose name mocks the headmaster [Muckers].
Kathleen is sent to a convent for h.s. which does not stifle her love for life, her bubbly enthusiasm & charm. When Rose takes her to England to attend a lifeless convent for college, Kathleen objects so Rose assents to another school near Paris. Kathleen misses her brother Jack terribly when he leaves school with another bout of illness. But, still travels to Italy & Russia while in Europe.
These young people indeed led privileged lives.
Despite wealth & privilege, tragedy strikes. Joe Sr. chose to have Rosemary lobotomized [without telling Rose!] when she becomes unmanageable & something goes terribly wrong. She spends the rest of her life institutionalized. Joe Jr. takes many dangerous assignments while flying during WW2 and dies when his plane explodes. After her Protestant husband, Lord Billy Hartington, is killed in the war, Kathleen falls in love with another man who is also Protestant & is married. She chooses to fly through a terrible storm to rendezvous with him & dies in the plane crash. We all know what happened to Jack after his successful run for the presidency. He left behind his wife Jackie & two beautiful children [remember John Jr. also died in a plane crash.] Bobby died when gunned down while he was running for president. And the story ends.
Joan, Ethel & Teddy are seldom mentioned and I would like to know more about them too.
Johnny's ambition takes him all the way to the mayor's office. Sadly, his administration is fraught with corruption & favors, no different from his predecessors. A commission investigates his handling of contracts for stone & other materials, finding that Boston paid double to the company selected by the mayor's office. His friend, Mitchell took the hit for that....ending up in prison & died an early death soon after his release. "Honey Fitz" lost his re-election bid, & took his family to Europe to escape the ugliness of the stain on his reputation. But, soon after his return, he ran again. Such a clever man, but where is his integrity? His oldest daughter is Rose, who adores her father & like any good Catholic girl, she is obedient, even when he sends her to a convent when she was planning on attending Wellsley. Then, to another exclusive convent in Europe with her younger sister. No time to make friends, play, or enjoy one's youth for those girls.....only silence, loneliness, toil & prayer. But, in retrospect, Rose makes this experience a key feature in her social standing later in life.
Rose met Joe Kennedy as a teen one summer at Old Orchard in Maine, where all the Irish vacationed. Over the years, her friendship & fondness blossomed into love and they intended to marry. Her Dad was not in favor for he and P.J. Kennedy did not inhabit the same circle. Kennedy ran a construction company then became a banker while Fitz was totally engrossed with political life. Joe took over as the youngest bank president at a small Boston bank after finishing Harvard. He doubled the bank's deposits and loans within a short amount of time, demonstrating his work ethic and shrewd assessment of customers paid off. Once Joe was a successful banker, Fitz couldn't stand in the way of Rose & Joe getting married at their Catholic church with a small reception after. They honeymooned in VA at a new seaside hotel/resort. Ten months later, Joe Jr. was born. Little more than a year later, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born. Rose's dad was a happy grandfather who enjoyed his grandchildren more than his own children but there was no bitterness.
When WW1 began, Joe's friends who were equally successful in professional jobs all rushed to enlist to train as officers for the the new cadre of draftees. Joe felt that war was a tragic waste of human life and property. Not long before his draft # came up, he took a new job with Bethlehem Steel, helping build a new shipyard in MASS meant to built destroyers. His boss petitioned the draft board telling them how essential Joe's role was for the war effort...but the draft board said he was still classified to be drafted. One of Bethlehem's executives made a call to a contact in D.C. to end the possibility of Joe Kennedy being drafted. But, he was doing work that boosted the country's war preparations to soothe his guilt while his pals had enlisted.
Joe took care of the commissary and when the flu epidemic struck, he quickly created a hospital at the shipyard to care for their 27,000 employees. He was skilled at the job, but when the war ended, he chose to move on. Using his contacts, he landed a job in a brokerage house where he was able to use insider information to build an admirable stock portfolio for himself, as well as their clients. He certainly had the Midas touch for trading stocks. Rose was at home having another baby during the flu epidemic: their first girl, Rosemary.
As Joe was finding success as a stock trader, Rose was reconnecting with the Catholic Church to fill the void she found while living in a Protestant neighborhood, at home with too many young children to travel the world or get out & socialize as she did as the darling daughter of Honey Fitz. Does it add to her infamy that she attained acceptance while at a Catholic retreat? She chose to make more time for herself by insisting Joe find them a larger house & they hire more help: cooks, nannies to raise the kids, and other servants. Sounds like "privilege" to me.
When Joe moves on the the movie industry after making a lot of money trading stocks. Rose is busy with 7 children, but still takes time to travel despite the children longing to go with her. Joe Jr. is the oldest and was often the surrogate parent, missing out of some of the fun of childhood. He & Jack were very competitive. Joe would toss a football with Teddy or Bobby, showing them how it's done but with Jack, his throws were meant to hurt. Was Joe threatened by Jack's confidence and intelligence? They tell us Jack was repeatedly "sick" but didn't tell us what exactly made him sick.
As the oldest girl born during the flu epidemic, Rosemary was sweet & lovely but once she started school, her teachers informed Rose that she was retarded. Rose suspected something was wrong. The parents sought all sorts of medical help but found none. They rebuffed the advice to institutionalize her until she "acted out" in young adulthood, & had her lobotomized for being promiscuous. [St. Coletta's is right down the road from where I live and it is a wonderful facility with the most kind & caring staff despite the nuns being mostly gone.]
Kathleen was the second oldest girl and was especially close to her older brothers. Always cheerful & energetic, described as "a ray of sunshine." She was one of the 9 children who never acted privileged & realized how fortunate she was to be born into the Kennedy family. Eunice was only a year younger but was more shy & withdrawn, preferring the company of the younger children. She was closest to Rosemary & most often understood what Rosemary wanted/needed. Rose felt all
their children had great empathy & compassion because of growing up with Rosemary at home.
When Joe Sr. was tired of the stock market, he moved on to dabble in movies. He gained footing in Hollywood when he was asked to help Gloria Swanson with her financial woes, to start a long "relationship" with her. Rose denied knowing about the affair. She seemed unwilling to admit Joe could be lured into another woman's bed or perhaps thought it was beneath her to admit adultery was going on in their marriage. Too much time was spent on explaining Joe's machinations in the silent movie business. Eventually, Joe's investment in making a movie with Gloria was a failure so he went home to his wife & family. But, he kept her from bankruptcy. Their joint venture eventually made some money but never the blockbuster movie they both hoped for.
When Joe went home, he began divesting himself of his stocks. Unlike most men of Wall St. he believed the market was booming based on margins [& wishful thinking] instead of actual economic performance. When the crash came in 1929, he was still a very wealthy man, mostly unaffected by Wall Street's collapse.
At this juncture, he decides that he wants to get involved in politics. He spends some time at home [they now own THREE mansions] where he reconnects with Rose & their NINE children. He meets FDR, becomes a loyal supporter and joins his campaign doing fundraising. Their cross-country trip by train to meet people & hear their stories first hand was described by Joe as one of the best experiences of his life. He seems to expect a reward from FDR for his successful fundraising. Eventually, FDR asks him to head the SEC. Apparently, an insider from Wall St., Joe is able to help chart the course of the SEC in creating regulations for the financial sector.
Joe Jr is the favorite son...schooled at Choate & then Harvard. Then, he is sent to Europe to study but after visiting Germany where Hitler now rules, he buys into that fascist thinking that "order" is good, marching is admirable & Jews are shady businessmen who need to be expelled. When Jack is sent to Choate, he does not emulate his older brother's ability to follow the rules nor get good grades. We are told Jack is sickly...supposedly having hepatitis. But, where would he have gotten hepatitis? He is able to stick with Choate, only with Dad's intercession after threatened with expulsion when he creates a secret club whose name mocks the headmaster [Muckers].
Kathleen is sent to a convent for h.s. which does not stifle her love for life, her bubbly enthusiasm & charm. When Rose takes her to England to attend a lifeless convent for college, Kathleen objects so Rose assents to another school near Paris. Kathleen misses her brother Jack terribly when he leaves school with another bout of illness. But, still travels to Italy & Russia while in Europe.
These young people indeed led privileged lives.
Despite wealth & privilege, tragedy strikes. Joe Sr. chose to have Rosemary lobotomized [without telling Rose!] when she becomes unmanageable & something goes terribly wrong. She spends the rest of her life institutionalized. Joe Jr. takes many dangerous assignments while flying during WW2 and dies when his plane explodes. After her Protestant husband, Lord Billy Hartington, is killed in the war, Kathleen falls in love with another man who is also Protestant & is married. She chooses to fly through a terrible storm to rendezvous with him & dies in the plane crash. We all know what happened to Jack after his successful run for the presidency. He left behind his wife Jackie & two beautiful children [remember John Jr. also died in a plane crash.] Bobby died when gunned down while he was running for president. And the story ends.
Joan, Ethel & Teddy are seldom mentioned and I would like to know more about them too.
October 30, 2014
This is a positively gargantuan, in both scope and detail, work of history and the documentation of a legendary American family (of Irish origin on both sides.) Beginning with the births and emergence of one generation, segueing into that of Joseph P. Kennedy and his wife Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy and ending with their children (specifically, the inauguration of their son John as President of the United States.)
It's a long book, but nearly always engrossing as it traces the life and times of these often dynamic and/or fascinating people. The author manages to generate some level of interest and suspense in incidents that many people may already be aware of through history class or other books or documentaries. The economic and political climates are described along with the personal feelings and situations of the people involved.
I chose to read this book because I knew a fair amount about JFK, Bobby and Ted Kennedy as well as some things about Rose, but I was deprived for one reason or another of much knowledge concerning Joe Kennedy and his children Joe Jr., Kathleen and Rosemary. (Any curiosity I might have had or still have about Eunice, Jean and Pat went unsatisfied for the most part in this book, for they are scarcely mentioned with any sort of detail or distinction and wind up as vague background presences in the story of their famous family.)
It was indeed interesting to learn more about what Joe Sr. accomplished, for better or worse, and to see what made him tick. I also enjoyed finding out more about the golden son Joe Jr., whose derring-do took him out of this life far too early, Kathleen, who was by all accounts an extraordinarily magnetic person and was also snuffed out in her prime, and Rosemary, who was dealt a terrible blow by nature and an even worse one by a misguided father.
Fans of long, eventful family sagas ought to enjoy this a lot (even though it is not fiction, it plays out like one of those miniseries like "Holocaust," "Captains and the Kings" or "The Winds of War!") It is very thorough, however, and not for those with a limited attention span or who prefer their information in abbreviated, magazine-style musings. The word I would use when it came to research on it is painstaking, and generally quite fair. And what a group of subjects to focus on... The book ends as JFK enters The White House, but the drama and tragedy of this family was far, far from over! Another book, every bit as long (but probably twice as sordid) could have come after this one had the author so chosen.
It's a long book, but nearly always engrossing as it traces the life and times of these often dynamic and/or fascinating people. The author manages to generate some level of interest and suspense in incidents that many people may already be aware of through history class or other books or documentaries. The economic and political climates are described along with the personal feelings and situations of the people involved.
I chose to read this book because I knew a fair amount about JFK, Bobby and Ted Kennedy as well as some things about Rose, but I was deprived for one reason or another of much knowledge concerning Joe Kennedy and his children Joe Jr., Kathleen and Rosemary. (Any curiosity I might have had or still have about Eunice, Jean and Pat went unsatisfied for the most part in this book, for they are scarcely mentioned with any sort of detail or distinction and wind up as vague background presences in the story of their famous family.)
It was indeed interesting to learn more about what Joe Sr. accomplished, for better or worse, and to see what made him tick. I also enjoyed finding out more about the golden son Joe Jr., whose derring-do took him out of this life far too early, Kathleen, who was by all accounts an extraordinarily magnetic person and was also snuffed out in her prime, and Rosemary, who was dealt a terrible blow by nature and an even worse one by a misguided father.
Fans of long, eventful family sagas ought to enjoy this a lot (even though it is not fiction, it plays out like one of those miniseries like "Holocaust," "Captains and the Kings" or "The Winds of War!") It is very thorough, however, and not for those with a limited attention span or who prefer their information in abbreviated, magazine-style musings. The word I would use when it came to research on it is painstaking, and generally quite fair. And what a group of subjects to focus on... The book ends as JFK enters The White House, but the drama and tragedy of this family was far, far from over! Another book, every bit as long (but probably twice as sordid) could have come after this one had the author so chosen.
October 30, 2015
Well, I learned a lot. As an Irish Catholic from Massachusetts, I of course hold the Kennedys in some reverence but I was totally ignorant of their family history. For example, I did not know that Kathleen existed or that Rosemary existed or that JFK's grandfather was mayor of Boston for years. In reading, I was wrapped in the story enough that I actually I grieved when reading of Kathleen's premature death. Doris Kearns Goodwin delved into a rich trove of family letters for this book and got great quotes from people who were on hand for historic family events.
JFK's father is a worthy subject of a book of his own. Joe Kennedy was involved in so many key trends in early 20th century America from the stock market to the film industry. I was left in awe of this guy and I'm adding him to my list of people who I think were sent here from somewhere else with special powers. The book did a good job of showing his bad side, of his support of appeasement even after everyone in Great Britain saw the error of their ways. He also made incomprehensible statements about jews which stood in stark contrast to his vivid sense of exclusion from certain areas of society because of his Catholicism.
Goodwin is a great story teller. The writing puts the reader right in the middle of all the drama around elections, deaths in the family, affairs, business deals and personal fights. I felt quite swept up in these stories, especially the ones which, through my ignorance, I had no idea of the outcome.
Goodwin felt the need to come up with her own explanations for feelings that this or that family member may have been having. Some of them were plausible, some of them seemed iffy. The way they were presented made me think this author mixed some pop psychology and feminism together and used it to guess the motivations of pre-WWII humans.
JFK's father is a worthy subject of a book of his own. Joe Kennedy was involved in so many key trends in early 20th century America from the stock market to the film industry. I was left in awe of this guy and I'm adding him to my list of people who I think were sent here from somewhere else with special powers. The book did a good job of showing his bad side, of his support of appeasement even after everyone in Great Britain saw the error of their ways. He also made incomprehensible statements about jews which stood in stark contrast to his vivid sense of exclusion from certain areas of society because of his Catholicism.
Goodwin is a great story teller. The writing puts the reader right in the middle of all the drama around elections, deaths in the family, affairs, business deals and personal fights. I felt quite swept up in these stories, especially the ones which, through my ignorance, I had no idea of the outcome.
Goodwin felt the need to come up with her own explanations for feelings that this or that family member may have been having. Some of them were plausible, some of them seemed iffy. The way they were presented made me think this author mixed some pop psychology and feminism together and used it to guess the motivations of pre-WWII humans.
July 18, 2012
This is a rather large book. The author had access to many papers and documents from the two families and it shows. The book traces the Fitzgeralds and Kennedys from the first Irish immigrants to the election of J. F. Kennedy. The early parts of the book are interesting in they describe the immigrant experience for the Irish and the struggle to achieve some success. The Fitzgeralds were farmers from Ireland and wanted to farm but stayed in Boston until they could save enough money to buy a farm. It never happened. The sons of the immigrants eventually became shop and saloon keepers. The local grocery store also serving as a pub in the evening. Eventually the ambitious John Fitzgerald became a success as apprentice to a local ward boss, and served as Mayor of Boston. The Kennedys had a similar experience but Joseph Kennedy was the Kennedy that made a fortune, through shrewd business deals. The book is a little tough to read in the beginning. It is not a page turner. Near the end when the book describes the WWII years and Joe Kennedy being ambassador to England becomes more interesting and many of the themes developed earlier start to come together. The book basically shows how the tight-knit Irish families worked together to achieve success. And the qualities of previous generations show up in later generations. I learned a lot about the Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys, and how a family ambition manifests itself. About the only complaint about the book would be how it reads. But I did like reading about the immigrants and the American experience, as it relates to my own genealogy researches.
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